Hundreds of young Americans from the town of Stamford, Conn., fought in the Vietnam War. These men and women came from all corners of the town. They were white and black, poor and wealthy. Some had not finished high school; others had graduate degrees. They served as grunts and helicopter pilots, battlefield surgeons and nurses, combat engineers and mine sweepers. Greeted with indifference and sometimes hostility upon their return home, Stamford’s veterans learned to suppress their memories in a nation fraught with political, economic and racial tensions. Now in their late 60s and 70s, these veterans have begun to tell their stories.

An American Town and the Vietnam War contains “gripping, emotionally wrenching tales by young men called on to fight an unpopular war and then treated like pariahs when they returned,” according to Jack Cavanaugh, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of Tunney. Morton Dean, retired CBS and ABC news anchor and writer-director of American Medevac, comments that “the authors’ magic touch gives us an opportunity to meet, get to know, and embrace those who for too many years felt America didn’t care about them. This book takes us on a journey we all should have taken long ago.”

Matt Paviateaches English and American studies at Darien High School. He lives in Norwalk, Conn.

Tony Pavia is a retired American history teacher and the former principal of Stamford High School, Trinity Catholic High School, and New Canaan High School. He lives in Naples, Florida.

The Darien Library is located at 1441 Post Rd. in Darien, Conn. For more information, phone (203) 655-1234, or visit darienlibrary.org.